International Travel,  Ireland,  Travel

Exploring Ireland (Day 1)

My ancestry is part Irish, I have an Irish grandparent on both sides of my family. I’ve long dreamed about visiting Ireland.  Over the years I’ve read many Maeve Binchy books and imagined myself in the little Irish villages in her stories. I had visions of quaint villages and emerald green hills with cool breezes and misting rain.  I saw myself spending evenings in cozy pubs topped off with a pint and a warm fireplace. When my brother mentioned his family was taking a trip to Ireland this summer I was excited to plan a trip to meet them there.  I wanted to use frequent flyer miles to book the trip but it turns out Ireland is a very popular destination in early July.  After searching several different airlines,  we were unable to find any good points redemptions for First Class flights to Ireland.  Instead of giving up on the trip, we expanded our itinerary and first flew to Germany where we spent a few days exploring Munich before travelling to Ireland.

From Munich, Germany, a short, inexpensive Aer Lingus flight landed us in Dublin, Ireland.

Aer Lingus to Dublin
Aer Lingus to Dublin

When I was planning this trip I focused on the Germany part of the itinerary.  I had our transportation and tours in Munich all figured out before leaving home. However, my planning as not as thorough for the Ireland portion of the trip so we arrived in Dublin not having any prearranged transportation to our hotel.  I figured I could always get an Uber if public transportation proved too complex. At the airport we cleared customs quickly then we followed the signs for public buses and came up to the AirLink Bus booth. The helpful man at the stand explained that we could buy a 72 hour pass that would give us AirLink transportation from the airport to a stop near our hotel and then for the next 3 days we could “hop on hop off” of the “DoDublin” tour buses that make regular rounds around Dublin stopping at many of the popular tourist sites.  This seemed like a pretty good deal and a bus happened to pull up while we were talking to him so we quickly paid and jumped on. A huge benefit of travelling with only a carry-on suitcase is the ability to quickly and easily mauenver public transportation without assistance. We placed our suitcase on the rack then climbed the stairs to the top level of the bus. In case you are the suspicious type, when the bus stops, a monitor screen at the front of the bus on the top level shows a camera view of the luggage rack, presumably so you can see if someone was “accidentally” taking your suitcase. All went well and less than 30 minutes later we were dropped off about one block from our hotel. The bus was clean and comfortable, it did not have air-conditioning which I imagine is not usually needed in Ireland but the week we were there they were having a heat wave and had been experiencing a drought so a little A/C would have been very welcome. A short walk and we arrived at the Conrad, Dublin.

Conrad Dublin Hotel
Conrad Dublin was our home base for our stay in Ireland

When we checked in at the hotel, we were pleased to find that not only was our room available, we had been upgraded to two larger beds (we had initially reserved a room with two twin beds). We had paid for our room at the Conrad using Hilton Honors points so the upgrade was a nice treat.

larger beds
Larger beds are always a treat

We deposited our suitcases in our room, then returned to the lobby and chatted with the concierge who recommended a local, family-friendly pub for our first Irish meal.  We had my nephews along on this trip so family-friendly was a must. A short walk from the hotel brought us to Doheny & Nesbitt, a charming pub with an upstairs dining area.

pub dinner at Doheny Nesbitt
Our first stop in Ireland was a pub for dinner

They were able to seat us right away and soon we were enjoying our first pint of Guinness in Ireland.

Sláinte!
Sláinte!

To keep it as authentic as possible, we also ordered shepherds pie and Irish Stew to round out the pub experience.

Shepherd's Pie dinner
I ordered Shepherd’s Pie which was served with a small side salad and fries (note, there are mashed potatoes on top of the pie and potato French fries)

 

Irish Stew with Guinness Bread
My brother ordered Irish stew which was served with Guinness bread

Walking and crossing streets in Dublin was challenging.  I am very glad I did not attempt to drive a car. It is important to remember that the cars are coming from the opposite side of the road (if you are from the US).  It was disconcerting to have to remember to carefully look right before stepping out to cross the roads. I think I would have been very dangerous in a car.

drive on left
The airport posted these helpful signs reminding drivers to drive on left.

After dinner, I walked around St Stephen’s green, a lovely park with shade trees and a peaceful lake. The park is generally a safe place to walk or rest. Groups of kids and families were often sitting on the grass playing card games, talking or playing with a ball. The park is a calm oasis in the middle of a very busy, bustling city.

Shady path
Shady path at St. Stephen’s Green

 

shady paths in St Stephens Green
The weather was quite warm so the mature shade trees made it cool and refreshing.

 

Lake
As you can see by the color of the grass in this photo.  The six weeks of draught was really drying out the area.

After the day of travel, I was feeling in need of some pampering so I decided to look for a salon to have my hair washed and blow-dried.  I made my way to Grafton Street which was full of people out enjoying the beautiful weather. While I had been looking forward to cool temperatures and some rainy weather while in Ireland, the people who lived there were generally very happy to be having so many sunny days. Grafton street is an area with shops, eateries, street entertainers and plenty of people walking around. I didn’t find a hair salon with openings but I did find a chocolate shop where I treated myself to some Irish chocolate.

St Ann's Church

That is St Ann’s Church of Ireland at the end of the street, viewed from Grafton Street

As I was walking, I passed the Shelbourne Hotel Spa so I ducked in and checked if they had any openings for walk-in appointments, luck was with me (Luck of the Irish?) and they had availability for a manicure and wash/blowdry. Such a treat after the day of travel!  While waiting for my appointment I checked out the hotel lobby; I was surprised to find that they had a gorgeous flower display set up for the Fourth of July.

Fourth of July flower display
Flower display at the Shelbourne Hotel celebrating the Fourth of July for American visitors

The framed card in the center of the display identified the flowers used in the arrangements.

Flower varieties
Several different varieties of flowers were used to create the Fourth of July Display

After my spa pampering, I headed back to the Conrad where I met up with my son again for another Guinness, this time in the lobby bar of our hotel, Lemuel’s. Lemuel’s was pretty empty until the night’s performance at the National Concert Hall across the street ended then patrons came over to the bar.

Lemuel's
A quiet evening at the Lobby Bar in the Conrad Dublin

Dublin was a bustling city as there is no underground train or subway the streets are teeming with noisy buses.  City buses and tour buses are driving all over the city all day long.  Parts of Dublin reminded me of Boston and Grafton street was crowded like a street in lower Manhattan!  Dublin was definitely not the Ireland I had pictured in my daydreams about Ireland.  My 20-year-old son loved Dublin, he said he would enjoy living there. For me, I would prefer somewhere less gritty. At the end of the day, it was so nice and relaxing to come back to the calm surroundings at the Conrad to unwind before bed.  Our days were packed with adventure and our second day in Ireland was scheduled to be a very long day exploring the West Coast and the famous Cliffs of Mohr so we needed to get some rest.

Conrad Dublin window
Evening at Conrad Dublin

 

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2 Comments

  • Amy

    I loved reading about your time in Ireland! Ireland will most likely be included in my next major international vacation 🙂 And that Shepherd’s pie looks delish!!! 🙂

    • Sheila

      Thank you, Amy! I highly recommend visiting Ireland, we had a great time there. I wish we had a few more days so that we could have checked out more of the country.

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